-
Exile of Lenin
Lenin was exiled because his brother was a rebel that contributed in the assassination of the Tsar Alexander II, and also led some marxist groups himself. -
Division of the Marxist Socialist Democratic Party
Soviets had formed the "Marxist Social Party" in 1898, but decided to divide it in 1903.
-Mensheviks: Social democrats, wanted to follow the western model.
-Bolsheviks: Under the leadership of Lenin, rejected capitalism. -
Bloody Sunday
Unarmed demonstrators who wanted to talk to tsar Nicholas II and present a petition were fired upon by soldiers of the Imperial Guard as they marched to the winter palace -
Murder of Rasputin
Grigori Rasputin was a friend and trusted advisor of the family of Nicholas II, he was hated by Russian nationalists, aristocrats and liberalists and contributed to the unpopularity of the tsar. He was murdered by monarchs in hopes that his death would save tsarism. -
February Revolution
There were mass demonstrations and armed clashes with police and gendarmes. In the last days, mutinous Russian Army forces sided with the revolutionaries. The result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire. -
Civil War
There was an opposition to the communist regime: on one side the Red Army (Bolshevik), while on the other there was the White Army (Anti-Bolshevik).
Lenin and the Bolsheviks triumphed over the Whites, and communists got control of Russia in 1921.
During the Civil war the last of the Romanovs were murdered, so that there would be no heirs and thus the tsardom would end. -
New Economic Policy
The New Economic Policy or NEP for short, was an economic policy of the government in the Soviet Union, retreating the previous policy of extreme centralization and doctrine socialism.
People began to rise against Lenin because of the industrial collapse and bad conditions in Russia which led to the creation of this policy. The NEP gave the right to peasants to sell their own products and to some stores to operate under private ownership. -
Creation of the USSR
The creation on the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics marked the successful establishment of the Bolshevik state, after the formation of this group things began to improve in Russia. The market revived, there's were good harvests and changes for the people. -
Death of Lenin
Lenin's death provoked trouble within the members of POLITBURO making them divide. On the left side, with Leon Trotsky as the leader they fought for the end of NEP, to continue with the revolution and to spread communism. On the right side they wanted to continue with NEP, rejected revolution and wanted to create a socialist state. -
Joseph Stalin in Government
After the division of the POLITBURO Stalin, as the general secretary of the party, expelled Trotsky in 1927 and later expelled all Bolsheviks form the party. By 1929 he had gained power and started a dictatorship.
